I did a double take myself. Austin, MN is where Hormel is based and I think they have a Spam festival also.

And then there is Turkey Day that is celebrated in Worthington, MN and they compete with a another celebration that is in Texas also (I think).

The Spam festival in Texas was on the FNT yesterday. I saw all these booths and cooking competitions and not a fried Spam sandwich in sight! What is wrong with these people? That would be like a tomato festival with no pizza!

Cakes

I've never seen apizza at the Reynoldsburg Tomato Festival in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, "Birthplace of the Tomato." Bet you didn;t know that this Columbus suburb was, in fact, the birthplace of the tomato.

Well, let's see - if Christopher Columbus were to have introduced the tomato (etymologically, at least, from the Nahuatl "tomatl" [- and the tomato WAS first cultivated in Mexico & Central America]) to Europe, and it took a couple of centuries before folks decided that they were even edible, AND that was first getting done in the US in the bayou kitchens of Louisiana in the early 19th century - maybe, just maybe, Reynoldsburg was the first place a 'Yankee' bit into one [maybe on a dare from a snotty older brother...], and thus was born the myth of "birthplace of the tomato"? It's the way history is written all the time!Buen provecho,RichardBerkeley/SF, CA

Well I have the high distinction of actually living in Austin, MN. We have what they call Spam Jam, a celebration of all things Spam. Don't ask me when, I grew up with this $#%$ and couldn't care less. I can tell you there was quite a heated debate in our small town as it used to occur over the 4th of July weekend. Some residents (mostly the people who lost the big Hormel strike back in the 80's) thought it took away from the true meaning of independence day. Ah yes, the joys of living in a one horse town. Hormel is a great company with great products. Why anyone would eat that junk out of a can is beyond me.

lleechef, you might want to show up this summer with that recipe..there is of a course a Spam recipe contest. I've been working on something called green eggs and Spam. Personally I stick with the Hormel pepperoni on my pizzas, their cure 81 ham very good as well. If you know someone on the inside you can get some of their prosciutto, I think they ship most of that off to more sophisticated areas of the country. At least least several times a year I do indulge in their cheese stuffed smokies for breakfast, grew up on those.

Well I have the high distinction of actually living in Austin, MN. We have what they call Spam Jam, a celebration of all things Spam. Don't ask me when, I grew up with this $#%$ and couldn't care less. I can tell you there was quite a heated debate in our small town as it used to occur over the 4th of July weekend. Some residents (mostly the people who lost the big Hormel strike back in the 80's) thought it took away from the true meaning of independence day. Ah yes, the joys of living in a one horse town. Hormel is a great company with great products. Why anyone would eat that junk out of a can is beyond me.

Did you ever see that documentary about the strike, "American Dream?" It is probably one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. One thing I noticed watching it is that everyone in the town pronounced the company name HOR-mel instead of hor-MEL like I have always heard it. Watching all those pigs being slaughtered and cut up kind of put me off SPAM for a while. But I got over it.

I actually just saw that last year for the first time, it was very well made. It was kind of odd as I recognized the parents of many of the kids I was in school with back then. I was a freshmen in high school during the strike, things were pretty crazy. Seeing the national guard surround the plant was something. There are still quite a few people in town with huge chips on their shoulders. My family was fortunate in that we weren't personally involved.

I made it there for the first couple of hours. The SpamMobile from Austin, MINNESOTA (Hormel truck) was there handing out free Spam sandwiches.

Really just another Austin hippiefest, which I LOVE. Most of my time spent drinking beer and people-watching (well, mostly girl-watching )

The highlight of the day was that I got to shake hands with Roky Erickson. (I hope Ort. sees this.) He walked about 2 feet from me with his "handler", so I just stepped over an held out my hand. He looked me straight in the eye, gave me a genuine smile, and gave me a FIRM handshake (the mark of a REAL man).

Nothing to fly down from Alaska for, but it was a beautiful day, and a splendid time was had by all.

Hey Bushie, congrats on meeting Roky. He, along with Spencer Perskin (Shiva's Headband) are two of the original hippie 'mayors' of Austin. Both were still active musically when I lived there. Uranium Savages were sort of an honorarium to this classic Austin weirdness. When I first moved to Austin in 1977, I lived in the 'Elevator House', which is still there, next to the Deep Eddy Saloon on Lake Austin Blvd, 1400 I think, corner of Deep Eddy St., near the pool. Its an office now; we used to keep finding these little hinged places throughout the first floor...db

When I first moved to Austin in 1977, I lived in the 'Elevator House', which is still there, next to the Deep Eddy Saloon on Lake Austin Blvd, 1400 I think, corner of Deep Eddy St., near the pool. Its an office now; we used to keep finding these little hinged places throughout the first floor...db

Hey, that's cool, dbear!! Man, you were right in the thick of things. Austin was SOOOOOOOO heavenly back then. Some friends and I road-tripped to Austin a couple of times a year starting in 1975, and I thought there was no greater place on earth.

I got to Spamarama this year just as the Uranium Savages were playing their last few songs. They changed the words to have a "Spam theme", and it was hilarious. (...we all love Spam, feed it to the children...)

Great to hear that the Savages are still around! Where was the 'orama held this year? For most of the time I lived there, it was held in the back yard of Soap Creek on S. Congress. Easy to sort of slide down the hill from Travis Heights, where we lived then. Tough to get back up with the belly full of spam delicacies and Shiner Bock. We usually made it about as far as the Continental club; memories are a little vague after that!db

I made it there for the first couple of hours. The SpamMobile from Austin, MINNESOTA (Hormel truck) was there handing out free Spam sandwiches.

Really just another Austin hippiefest, which I LOVE. Most of my time spent drinking beer and people-watching (well, mostly girl-watching )

The highlight of the day was that I got to shake hands with Roky Erickson. (I hope Ort. sees this.) He walked about 2 feet from me with his "handler", so I just stepped over an held out my hand. He looked me straight in the eye, gave me a genuine smile, and gave me a FIRM handshake (the mark of a REAL man).

Nothing to fly down from Alaska for, but it was a beautiful day, and a splendid time was had by all.

I missed a Roky Erickson discussion?! That's it, I have to start subscribing to topics.

Maybe it's the Jewish girl in me, but Spam just grosses me out- I tried it once (I'm not Kosher, just culturally Jewish which means Chinese food pork good, Pork chops, bad- there is no logic to it at all) Spam tasted like a greasy salty sponge to me.

My dear late friend Jeanine's mother made this dish with Spam, Velveeta and noodles that totally freaked me out- She served it to me for dinner with an appetizer of salami and cream cheese pinwheels. It was a definite culture clash- I was polite and ate it, but wow- to think people eat that stuff lall the time and LIVE!